True to his nickname, Beaumont’s Willie Edwards was a dynamite cruiserweight prospect. He was on the fast path to the top: too fast, too strong, too athletic, too good.

Brent Urban is an ordinary club fighter; he just began boxing ten months ago and his style brings to mind the image of a bar room brawler.

What seemed like an easy match for Edwards in March instead became a scare as Urban constantly threw wild punches and occasionally landed. The match was so entertaining a rematch was made.

Urban walked to the ring confidently, just with his corner; in the background his mother and sister cheered for him. Edwards calmly sauntered to his corner, seemingly almost too relaxed. Behind him marched a local boxing coalition: Nagy Aguilera, Chris Henry, Travis Walker, and Eugene Hill.

If the first match was any indication, Edwards would be wise to box and move against Urban. Though the wild man through haymakers from his knees, they tended to land, and upon impact had a startling effect.

In the first round, Urban 2-2 (1) made this alarmingly clear as he rocked Edwards 7-1 (2) with a left hook and had him on wobbly legs. Edwards’s glove touched the canvas but the referee missed this. Somehow Edwards survived the round. As he walked to his corner after the round, his eyes were like those of a man who had just seen a ghost.

Round two arrived, and it was even worse for Edwards, as on the move he was caught with a punch and fell. Now he was down three points after two rounds to a man he had already beaten in front of his own fans. This walkover was no longer a joke.

Edwards finally won a round in round three, as he used his speed and reflexes to hit Urban and not be hit back. It seemed he had made the proper adjustment.

This all changed in round four as Urban again repeatedly jarred Edwards. Now Edwards needed a knockout to win.

Round five seemed to be the perfect solution: Urban was dead tired, arms hanging on his sides, legs unable to move around. Edwards had his prey in front of him, and jolted him throughout, but was unable to close the show. Round six was more of the same, but Urban threw some shots back to keep Edwards cautious, for every time Edwards landed some shots, Urban would keep him on his heels with a hellacious shot. The last few seconds were non stop punches, as Edwards knew what he had to do. Unfortunately, it was too late, and the judges gave a proper decision: 58-55 for Urban on all cards.

All credit to the determined Urban, Edwards seemed a bit lethargic, devoid of energy. In the previous bout, he responded to every combination with a flashy flurry, and his defense was superior. In this bout, Edwards gave reminders of his age (33), as he simply kept his hands up and ate the punches. Has he grown old overnight or was he simply flat? The question will be answered in an already scheduled rubber match in a few months.

Crystal “Choo Choo” Delgado’s train ride to the top of women’s boxing was derailed by a determined Stacy Reile in her last appearance in the ring. She was beaten up and outclassed by a stronger, more experienced foe. To return, she was given an unknown from Arkansas, Kimberly Connor.

Last time Delgado knew the level of competition she was facing: Reile’s previous bout was for a world championship. This time, she was in for the shock of her life, as Connor 3-1 (1) did not come to lose. She threw harder, straighter punches, and avoided many of Delgado’s 8-2 (1). As was the case against Reile, Delgado was constantly caught coming in, simply walking into punishment. To add insult to injury, Reile sent Delgado to the canvas. Delgado bravely got up and tried her best to win, but again, it would not be enough. After the bout it was revealed that she injured her hand in the first round after landing a flush punch to Connor’s forehead, but those ringside knew that for Delgado to make it to championship level, there was simply one answer: move your head.

Welterweight Jose “Topita” Gutierrez always brings good fan support to his matches, but at times he seems overmatched. This would not be an issue, as his opponent was a short, balding man named Anthony Middlebrooks, perhaps a biology teacher with a hidden passion.

Middlebrooks made it past the sixty seconds most ringside observers gave him to survive and actually landed some jabs. His main problem was that he was unable to move around the ring, as his ancient legs kept him in position for Topita’s winded up body shots. In the fourth, Gutierrez 14-5 (10) finally caught up to Middlebrooks 8-4-2 (7) forty-eight seconds into the fourth round and stopped him.

Jesus Mendez was one of the more promising amateurs of recent years. He turned professional to little fanfare in October and shockingly lost his third bout in May. For revenge, he was handed Gerardo Dominguez. In the opening round, Mendez 3-1 (2) lifted Dominguez 0-3 off his feet with a right cross. Dominguez took a bit more punishment until the referee Ronnie Ralston surprisingly stopped the bout after two minutes, three seconds.

Othello Jackson’s boxing nickname should be the human bowling ball. His rotund body (two hundred seventy-four pounds) probably underwent the majority of its training at fast food restaurants and doughnut shops. He stepped into the ring against young Steven Moreno, who knocked out local guy Mark Blankenship two months back. Moreno 2-1 (2) did not have any problems with Jackson 0-3, as he trapped him in the corner, and knocked him down. Jackson attempted to rise, but referee Sam Garza advised him to stay down, for if Jackson used the ropes to assist him, the ring may have collapsed. Official time was one minute, thirty-eight seconds.

When Chris Quarrels entered the ring, the reaction from most would be the same as a cashier’s at a movie theatre: where is your ID? Though listed at twenty-five years of age, he looks to be closer to fifteen. He wore basketball shorts as trunks. His opponent was Carlos Patina of Galveston. Surprisingly, Quarrels actually put up a game fight, throwing punches with mean intentions and occasionally landing. Unfortunately, Patina 1-0 (1) avoided most of them and countered with meaner punches in return. He trapped Quarrels 0-3 in the corner and landed a barrage forcing the referee to step in. In response, Quarrels shook his head, as if to say “What just happened?” What happened was that his life was saved after fifty-six seconds of brutality.

Hanson Thacker outclassed debuting Freddie Juarez in the opening bout. Juarez 0-1 had a good boxing look, he tried to roll his shoulder and bobbed his head back and forth, but Thacker 1-1 was a bit slicker and landed cleaner punches. Official scores were 40-35, 39-36, and 39-36.